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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1.Rationale 1
2. Aim of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Scope of the study 3
5. Method of the study 3
6. Organisation of the thesis 3

PART B - DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Vocabulary in second language learning and teaching 5
1.2. Definition of vocabulary 5
1.3. Vocabulary Teaching 6
1.3.1. Implicit vocabulary teaching 6
1.3.2. Explicit Vocabulary teaching 8
1.4. What about vocabulary needs to be taught 10
1.5. How vocabulary is to be taught 10
1.5.1. Presentation techniques 11
1.5.2. Practice and consolidation techniques 11
1.6. When vocabulary is to be taught 12
1.7. Types of vocabulary 12
1.7.1. Vocabulary classified in terms of morpheme 12
1.7.2. Vocabulary classified in terms of meaning 12
1.7.3. Vocabulary classified in terms of functions 13

1.7.4. Vocabulary classified in terms of frequency of use 13
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1.7.5. Other classifications of vocabulary 13
1.8. ESP Vocabulary teaching 14

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 16
2.1. The current situation of the teaching and learning ESP at VTVC 16
2.1.1. English for Cookery Staff 16
2.1.2. The learners 17
2.1.3. The syllabus and materials 17
2.1.4. The teachers and their methods of ESP vocabulary teaching 18
2.2. Research methodology - Quasi-Experimental Design 19
2.2.1 Research questions 19
2.2.2 The participants 19
2.2.3. Research design 21
2.2.4. Data collection instrument 23
2.2.4.1. Pre-test 23
2.2.4.2. Post-test 23
2.2.5 Data collection procedure . 24
2.2.5.1. Explicit vocabulary teaching methods for experimental group 27
2.2.5.2. Implicit vocabulary teaching method for control group 27
2.2.6. Data analysis 28
2. 2.6.1. Descriptive data analysis 29
2. 2.6.2. Experimental data analysis 30

CHAPTER3: RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS 31
3.1 Students' performance in vocabulary 31
3.1.1. Students' performance before the treatment 31
3.1.2. Distribution of the pre-test scores 32
3. 1.3. Comparison of mean scores 33

3.2. Summary 35

CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 36
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4.1. Introduction 36
4.2 Findings on students' achievement 36

PART C - CONCLUSION 38
1. Main conclusions of the study 38
2. Pedagogical implications 39
3. Limitation of the research and some suggestions for further studies 39

REFERENCES 41
Appendices I
Appendix 1: The syllabus for Cookery students at VTVC ………………… I
Appendix 2: A description of the 6 explicit vocabulary teaching lessons given
to Experimental Group …………………………………………. III
Appendices 3: Vocabulary tasks used during the experimental process V
3A:Task 1 V
3B:Task 2 VIII
3C:Task 3 XI
3D: Task 4 XIV
3E:Task 5 XII
3F:Task 6 XX
Appendices 4: Vocabulary tasks used during the control process XXII
4A:Task 1 XXII
4B:Task 2 XXIII
4C:Task 3 XXV
4D: Task 4 XXVII
4E:Task 5 XIX

4F:Task 6 XXXI
Appendix 5: Pre-test XXXIII
Appendix 6: Post-test XXXVII
Appendix 7: Score table of vocabulary test in the control and experimental
groups XLI
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LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND DIAGRAM
TABLES
Table 2.2.3: Structure of experimental design 21
Table 2.2.4: A brief outline of the different stages of the research 26
Table 3.1.1: Mean comparison for pre-test 31
Table 3.1.3a : Vocabulary mean scores and t-test for the control group's pre-test
and post-test 34
Table 3.1.2b: Vocabulary mean scores and t-test for the experimental group's pre
test and post-test 35
Table 3.1.3: Vocabulary mean scores and a t-test for both groups' pre-test and post
test 35

CHARTS
Chart 3.1.2a: Distribution of vocabulary scores in control and experimental groups
before explicit teaching treatment 32
Chart 3.1.2b: Distribution of vocabulary scores in control and experimental groups
after explicit teaching treatment 33

DIAGRAM
Diagram 3.4: Design of control and experimental group ………………………… 22

ABBREVIATIONS
VTVC: VungTau Tourism Vocational College

ESP: English for special purpose
ELT: English Language Teaching
ESL: English as Second Language
L2: Second Language
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PART A – INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

In Vung Tau Tourism Vocational College (VTVC) where the researcher has been a teacher
of English for eight years, English is taught as a compulsory subject together with other
vocational ones. During the final course, students mainly use the ESP course book “Ready
to Order” by Baude, A. Iglesias, M and Inesta, A (2004) to learn integrated English
language skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. However, Listening and
Speaking are the primary skills which are designed on a large number of vocabulary for
specific purposes (Food & Beverage). Most of vocabulary in this material are unfamiliar to
the students. During eight years of teaching, the researcher has observed the fact that many
students cannot remember and retain ESP words though they try a lot in learning them. The
level of students at VTVC is quite low so it is difficult for them to get the word meanings
in context with their limited vocabulary knowledge. That students cannot understand,
retain and use necessary ESP words causes frustration and results in their negative attitude
towards the ESP course. This situation makes the researcher as well as her colleagues
reconsider their method of teaching vocabulary. For this reason the research was carried
out with the aim to find a solution for the problem. A Quasi-Experimental Research was
conducted on ESP vocabulary teaching in which the Explicit and Implicit Vocabulary
Teaching Approaches were implemented.

Vocabulary is very important in language learning, as McCarthy states that “the biggest

component of any language course is vocabulary” (1990, p.viii). The status of vocabulary
in language learning and teaching has changed dramatically in the last two decades. “Since
the mid-1980s there has been renewed interest in the role of vocabulary in second language
learning” (Coady and Huckin, 1997, p.ix). Being aware of the important role of
vocabulary, teachers have been seeking for effective vocabulary teaching approaches for
their own contexts. The main problem that a classroom teacher is faced with in teaching
vocabulary is how best to help students understand, retain and use words in the target
language. So far, there have been many different approaches to vocabulary teaching and
learning. Chacón-Beltrán reveals that “A great deal of recent research into second language
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vocabulary teaching and learning has been devoted to the comparison of explicit and
implicit approaches” (2010, p.4).

Explicit vocabulary teaching is particularly useful for students who access ESP for the first
time, they are seen as beginning students who have a limited reading vocabulary and little
exposure to incidental vocabulary learning outside of school. Current research would
suggest that it is worthwhile to add explicit vocabulary to the usual inferring activities in
the second language classroom where the weak students are asked to deal with new words
in reading passages. Explicit method seems better for students who cannot find the clues to
determine the meanings of words in a strange context, as Beck, McKeown, & Kucan
(2002) cited in Archer, A.L, Hughes, C.A (2011, p.54) : “Explicit vocabulary instruction is
particularly critical for struggling readers, who do not read extensively and have more
difficulty using contextual cues to determine word meaning”

2. Aim of the study

The research was intended to find out the effect of Explicit Vocabulary Teaching on ESP
students’ vocabulary acquisition.

3. Research questions
In order to achieve the above aim, the research was carried out to find the answer to the
following research question:
To what extent does the Explicit Vocabulary Teaching help to improve ESP
students’ vocabulary acquisition?

The answer for the main research question was identified by answering two sub-research
questions:
1. Will there be any significant difference in the vocabulary knowledge between the
students who are taught vocabulary explicitly and those taught vocabulary
implicitly?

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2. Will there be any significant difference in the vocabulary knowledge before and
after the treatment between the Explicit Vocabulary Teaching and Implicit
Vocabulary Teaching?

4. Scope of the study

The study was carried out to aim at finding the effect of Explicit Vocabulary Teaching on
ESP Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition at VTVC. It was conducted on 42 students at two
Cookery Classes at Restaurant Management Department. A quasi-experimental design was
implemented so the sample was not randomized. All the subjects of the study were from
two intact groups. The research was carried out in one month and a half.

5. Method of the study

A Quasi-Experimental Research design was conducted to gain the research’s aim. Data
were collected from a pre-test and a post-test. Two intact classes were assigned as the
control group and the experimental group. The control group learned ESP vocabulary in
the reading comprehension texts through the implicit vocabulary teaching as the
requirements in the course book. The experimental group also received the same amount of
ESP vocabulary but through the explicit vocabulary teaching in which exercises and
activities are used to focus students’ attention on vocabulary. The two groups were taught
English in two different classes, so the experimental group did not know they were
receiving a special treatment.

To provide students sufficient time to attain vocabulary progress, the research was
conducted in one month and half which was also the allotted time the participants had for
half of their ESP course at VTVC. Students’ vocabulary knowledge in both experimental
and control groups was tested before the treatment and immediately after the treatment.

6. Organisation of the thesis
The thesis consists of three parts.
PART A – INTRODUCTION
This part provides the rationale, aim, scope, and method of the study.
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PART B – DEVELOPMENT
This is the main part of the study which is comprised of 3 chapters.
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the theoretical background of the study is provided. It focuses on the
second language vocabulary teaching of English for General Purposes (EGP) and English
for Special Purposes (ESP).
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
This part reports the collection and analysis of the data and findings of the study.

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS
This part presents the results of the study and analysis of the collected data from the tests.
PART C – CONCLUSION
This part summarises the findings, states the limitation of the research, draws pedagogical
implications and offers suggestions for further research.













PART B – DEVELOPMENT

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CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Vocabulary in second language learning and teaching

As Harmer (1991, p.154) explains, vocabulary is the word that must be used in connection
with the language structure and grammar knowledge if we want to express meanings.
However, vocabulary has not received the proper recognition for many years and was seen
as something additional that just helped when learning structures. Now, acquisition and

teaching of vocabulary is perceived as important as the acquisition and teaching of
grammar. The current literature on lexical pedagogy shows that vocabulary teaching and
learning is central to the theory and practice of English language teaching. Vocabulary is
actually an important component of language. The acquisition of vocabulary has assumed a
more central role in learning a second language (Sökmen, 1997). Zimmerman (1997) also
notes that words are of critical importance to the typical language learner. The importance
of vocabulary acquisition to second language acquisition has been further emphasised by
Carter (2001), who concludes that words have a central place in culture, and learning
words is seen by many as the main task (and obstacle) in learning another language.
Failing to acquire survival level vocabulary, the learners are unable to understand the target
language. Laufer and Hulstijn (2001) also state that virtually all second language learners
and their teachers are well aware of the fact that learning a second language involves the
learning of large numbers of words.

1.2. Definition of vocabulary

There have been different definitions of vocabulary. The Longman Dictionary of Language
Teaching and Applied Linguistics defined vocabulary as “a set of lexemes, including
single words, compound words and idioms”. Pyles and Algeo (1970, p.96) say, “when
most of us think about language, we think first about words. It is true that the vocabulary is
the focus of language. It is in words that sounds and meanings inter-lock to allow us to
communicate with one another, and it is words that we arrange together to make sentences,
conversations and discourse of all kinds.”

It is, however, not easy to define exactly what a word is. So far, many linguists have given
out their different definitions of word. In the view of the authors of The Longman
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Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (2002), “word is the smallest of

the linguistic units which can occur on its own in speech or writing”. It is difficult to apply
this criterion consistently. For example, can a function word like “the” occur on its own? Is
a contraction like “can’t” (can not) one word or two? Also in terms of methodology, Penny
Ur (1996, p.60) defines vocabulary as “the words we teach in the foreign language.
However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two
or three words or multi-word idioms” A similar definition from Richards and Platt is that
vocabulary is “a set of lexemes, including words, compound words and idioms” (Richards
and Platt, 1992, p.400). These statements indicate that vocabulary is “the total number of
words in a language” (Hornby, 1995, p.1331)

1.3. Vocabulary teaching

1.3.1. Implicit vocabulary teaching

The importance of using the context for implicit vocabulary learning has been emphasized
(Sőkmen, 1997) because words usually change their meaning from one context to another
(e.g., The doctor ordered me to stay in bed / He called our names in alphabetical order)
(Labov, 1973 cited Nagy, 1997). As Nagy (1997) points out, first-language learners pick
up most vocabulary from the context, and the acquisition of multi-meaning words is
accounted for by this incidental learning. He also points out that contextual inferences
contribute to learners developing an understanding of word meaning at different levels of
knowledge: linguistic knowledge (syntactic knowledge, word schemas, vocabulary
knowledge), word knowledge and strategic knowledge. The context enables a learner to
know different syntactic meanings and functions, to create appropriate word schemas
(Nagy & Scott, 1990 cited in Nagy, 1997), to understand the meaning of surrounding
words, to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word, and to encourage the use of strategy for
making deliberate attempts to discover unknown vocabulary (Nagy, 1997). Also, context
can expose learners to high frequency vocabulary (Hunt & Beglar, 1998).
Many linguists (Craik and Tulving, 1975; Nation and Coady, 1988) take the position that
L2 learners have to learn vocabulary implicitly. This can be done in the form of extensive

reading, where readers’ aim is to understand the text without giving deliberate attention to
language features including vocabulary in the text. In this way, readers can only acquire
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word meanings through incidental learning. Nation (2001) mentions that experimental
studies of extensive reading have used simplified texts written for non-native speakers to
provide favourable conditions for language learning. The studies show that extensive
reading benefits quality of language use, language knowledge and general academic
performance (p.150). There are also findings that learners incidentally gain vocabulary
knowledge from each meaning focused reading of an appropriate text.
Learners can develop skills in guessing meaning from the context by using gapped text -
either traditional or modified cloze procedure - or by using words with English affixes
(Taylor, 1990). However, there are also problems related to inferring the meaning of
words from the context. For example, Sőkmen (1997) points out that guessing words in
context is likely to be a very slow process and is not an effective method for second
language learners (Carter & McCarty, 1988) because they have a limited amount of time to
learn vocabulary. Secondly, inferring word meaning is not an error-proof process.
Students often fail to guess the correct meaning (Pressley et al, 1987, Kelly, 1990 cited in
Sőkmen, 1997) and their comprehension may be low because of insufficient vocabulary
knowledge (Haynes & Baker, 1993 cited in Sőkmen, 1997). Also, Giko (1978) cited in
Nagy (1997) claims that context plays a relatively less important role, while explicit
instruction has a relatively greater role in the vocabulary growth of second language
learners. This is because second language learners are less effective than native speakers
at using context, at least until they achieve a fairly high level of second language
proficiency. Again, the best way of teaching vocabulary is by using a variety of classroom
methods. Explicit teaching methods will, therefore, be described in the next section.

1.3.2. Explicit vocabulary teaching
To deal with the problems of implicit vocabulary learning, current research suggests

adding techniques of explicit instruction (e.g. Hunt & Beglar, 1998; Sőkmen, 1997). There
are various methods of teaching words explicitly to learners. Duin and Graves (1987)
mention that explicit vocabulary instruction can be given through providing word
definitions, synonym pairs, word lists, word associations, the keyword method, semantic
mapping and semantic feature analysis. Harmer (1991) states that the introduction of new
vocabulary can be carried out through the use of realia, pictures, mimicry, contrast,
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enumeration, explanation and translation. All these vocabulary teaching techniques involve
direct teaching. Explicit teaching is particularly emphasized because of its time-efficiency,
its suitability for beginners or low proficiency students, its possibilities of improving word
comprehension, and its adaptability. Firstly, there is a significant emphasis on the explicit
teaching of single words at an early stage of second language learning (Coady & Huckin,
1997). Coady and Huckin (1997) emphasizes that the 2,000 high-frequency words should
be learned as quickly as possible to the point of automaticizing, because after learning the
basic high-frequency words, learners can more easily increase their vocabulary size
through reading, especially in the case of low-frequency words or specific purpose words.
Secondly, because adults learn second language learners, unlike young children learning
their native language, have already developed a conceptual and semantic system which is
linked to their first language (Ellis, 1997), they can easily understand explicit word
meanings. And finally, it is possible to apply vocabulary using various techniques for
increasing understanding of the word meaning and for memorization (Sőkmen, 1997).
However, effective teaching of vocabulary entails not only the presentation of new words,
but also the elaboration and development of the meanings of old and new vocabulary
(Sőkmen, 1997). For example, to elaborate the meaning of newly learned lexis, the teacher
should create opportunities for understanding recently learned words in new contexts, or
organize exercises that provide new collocations, associations and so on (Hunt & Beglar,
1998).
According to the National Reading Panel (2000), explicit instruction of vocabulary is

highly effective. To develop vocabulary intentionally, students should be explicitly taught
both specific words and word-learning strategies. To deepen students' knowledge of word
meanings, specific word instruction should be robust (Beck et al., 2002). Seeing
vocabulary in rich contexts provided by authentic texts, rather than in isolated vocabulary
drills, produces robust vocabulary learning (National Reading Panel, 2000). Such
instruction often does not begin with a definition, for the ability to give a definition is often
the result of knowing what the word means. Rich and robust vocabulary instruction goes
beyond definitional knowledge; it gets students actively engaged in using and thinking
about word meanings and in creating relationships among words.
Research shows that there are more words to be learned than can be directly taught in even
the most ambitious program of vocabulary instruction. Explicit instruction in word-
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learning strategies gives students tools for independently determining the meanings of
unfamiliar words that have not been explicitly introduced in class. Since students
encounter so many unfamiliar words in their reading, any help provided by such strategies
can be useful.
Word-learning strategies include dictionary use, morphemic analysis, and contextual
analysis. For English language learners whose language shares cognates with English,
cognate awareness is also an important strategy. Dictionary use teaches students about
multiple word meanings, as well as the importance of choosing the appropriate definition
to fit the particular context. Morphemic analysis is the process of deriving a word’s
meaning by analyzing its meaningful parts, or morphemes. Such word parts include root
words, prefixes, and suffixes. Contextual analysis involves inferring the meaning of an
unfamiliar word by scrutinizing the text surrounding it. Instruction in contextual analysis
generally involves teaching students to employ both generic and specific types of context
clues.
A more general way to help students develop vocabulary is by fostering word
consciousness, an awareness of and interest in words. Word consciousness is not an

isolated component of vocabulary instruction; it needs to be taken into account each and
every day (Scott and Nagy, 2004). It can be developed at all times and in several ways:
through encouraging to adept diction, through word play, and through research on word
origins or histories. According to Graves (2000), “If we can get students interested in
playing with words and language, then we are at least halfway to the goal of creating the
sort of word-conscious students who will make words a lifetime interest.”

1.4. What about vocabulary needs to be taught

In teaching vocabulary, it is necessary for teachers to know what need to be taught about
lexical items. Ur (1996) states that when teaching vocabulary, teachers should teach the
form, grammar, collocation, aspects of meaning (denotation, connotation, appropriateness,
and meaning relationship) and word formation. As regards to this issue, Nu (2004) claims
that knowing a word means knowing its meaning, word form (spelling, pronunciation,
grammar), and its use in appropriate contexts.

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1.5. How to teach vocabulary

While there may be no well-established or “best” way to teach vocabulary, it is possible to
derive some useful guidelines from the literature aimed at optimising vocabulary learning.
In the research, increasing students’ vocabulary acquisition through explicit approaches
implemented in teaching vocabulary was focused on.
Sökmen (1997) provides useful principles for an explicit focus on vocabulary teaching:
• build a large-size vocabulary
• integrate new words with old
• provide a number of encounters with a word
• promote a deep level of processing

• facilitate imaging
• make new words “real” by connecting them to the student’s world in some way
• use a variety of techniques
• encourage independent learning strategies.
In this research, the stages in teaching vocabulary are mentioned in terms of presentation,
practice and consolidation.

1.5.1. Presentation techniques

At this stage, the new words are presented, an event which involves the presentation of
pronunciation and spelling. The aim of presentation stage is to establish the basic meaning
and the correct form of the word in the learner’s memory. There are many ways how to
present the meaning of new items. “Most of these are means which tend to be associated
with a more teacher-centred approach and consequently the items taught through these
means are usually selected by the teacher rather than the learner” (Gairns and Redman,
1986, p.73). It is important to decide which form is suitable for the particular situation. It is
often possible to use visual techniques such as objects and pictures. Actions are better to be
presented by gestures or by mime. There are also verbal techniques involving the use of
synonyms, antonyms, and scales. With intermediate learner’s, concise definitions,
explanation, examples of the type, and context can be used,.
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It is also possible to use translation, however, as Harmer (1991, p.162) suggests it is not
always the best way since it is sometimes difficult to find the appropriate translation of the
word and the process of translating does not encourage the manipulation with words that is
very important for the consolidation stage. At intermediate levels, we can use discovery
techniques. They employ the learner’s previous knowledge and activate the work with
words. Discovery techniques together with using dictionaries and asking others activities
belong to more emphasised strategies that allow the learner more autonomy than the

above-mentioned techniques.

1.5.2. Practice and consolidation techniques

After having provided with the new words, students are allowed to practice the new word
in a controlled setting with the aim to store the new word in the long-term memory and to
turn passive vocabulary into active vocabulary. The practice should be carefully organized
so that the load of new lexis would not discourage the learner. In addition, it is important to
emphasize “that experiments on vocabulary seem to suggest that students remember best
when they have actually done something with the words they are learning” (Harmer 1991,
p.160). Consequently, there are many techniques that involve more than just repeating
vocabulary and that help to fix the new word in the learner’s memory. Some popular
techniques can be named: filling in gaps in sentences, matching words to other words,
replacing words with their synonyms or antonyms, memory games, paraphrasing, using
words in sentences or dialogues, role plays, discussions, picture stories, using prefixes and
suffixes to build new words from given words, etc.

1.6. When vocabulary is to be taught

In language learning, it is very important for learners to know some vocabulary to perform
language skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing. Therefore, vocabulary
should be taught before skills teaching happens. However, new words can be taught at any
time during a lesson (Nu, 2004). It is quite necessary for teachers to pre-teach vocabulary
in a reading or listening task.

1.7. Types of vocabulary
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There have been different ways of classifying types of vocabulary according to different
criteria. As Nu, D. (2004) states “vocabulary can be classified differently according to
different criteria such as morpheme, meaning, function, frequency of use, etc”. Below are
the most common ways of classifying vocabulary.

1.7.1. Vocabulary classified in terms of morpheme

According to this criterion, words can be divided into three kinds: simple words, derived
words and compound words. Simple words are ones that consist of a root morpheme like
cat, egg…. Derived words are those that consist of a root and one or more derivational
morphemes such as teacher, boring And compound words consist of at least two roots
with or without derivational morphemes as frying pan, boiled eggs…

1.7.2. Vocabulary classified in terms of meaning
Two kinds of meaning can be identified in terms of this criterion, they are lexical meaning
and grammatical meaning. Therefore, vocabulary can be divided into notional and
functional words. Notional words are words which have clear lexical meaning. They
address actions, qualities, objects, etc. They form a great number of each speaker’s
vocabulary. Functional words are words which have grammatical meaning and they only
have meaning in relation with other words with which they are combined. They are
particles, prepositions, articles, auxiliaries, conjunctions, etc.

1.7.3. Vocabulary classified in terms of functions

With different functions of words in a sentence, vocabulary can be divided into different
terms as parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and
pronouns. Each part has to comply with grammatical rules and relates to one another. The
teacher is, therefore, required to point out the function of each item to the students and
should provide them the family words as well. In this way, students can put the words in
the correct order and easy for them to restore and retain the words they have learnt so that

they can widen their vocabulary size.

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1.7.4. Vocabulary classified in terms of frequency of use

Nation and Waring (2004) suggest 2 types of vocabulary: high frequency words and low
frequency ones. They state that although a language makes use of a large number of words,
not all of these words are equally useful. Nation and Waring (2004:11) indicate the number
of about 3,000 frequency words that learners need to know. From this Nation (2001)
argues that teachers should develop strategies to help learners to comprehend and know
how to use low frequency words.

1.7.5. Other classifications of vocabulary

According to Nu, D. (2004), vocabulary can be classified basing on teaching conditions,
context of situations, communicative purposes, content or aims of the lessons. In language
teaching, words can be divided into active (positive) words or passive (negative) words in
which active words tend to be paid more attention.

1.8. ESP vocabulary teaching

In the previous part, we described the situation in General English vocabulary teaching.
However, as it has been mentioned in the Introduction, the students in this study are
vocational ones at the VTVC who should be trained in the ESP Vocabulary, namely
English for Cookery that is covered by English for Occupational Purposes. According to
Kennedy and Bolitho (1984, p.65), ESP vocabulary teaching has been also neglected as
ELT vocabulary teaching. “Perhaps this is because of the difficulties involved in teaching
vocabulary rather than merely testing it” (Kennedy and Bolitho 1984, p.65). Before the

special aspects of teaching ESP vocabulary is discussed, we will first define what the ESP
vocabulary is.

In addition to “general” English vocabulary which include grammatical words, basic
lexical words, auxiliaries, “special lexical items appear in most professions, and every field
has special vocabulary to cover abstract concepts” (Hatch and Brown, 1995, p.312).
Kennedy and Bolitho (1984, p.56-58) provide the following specialist word categories for
teaching purposes:
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- Technical Abbreviations – e.g. kph, km, m3 they usually do not cause a problem,
however, learners should listen to them and practise them in note-taking exercises.
- Symbols and Formulae – they are the subject matter of the learner’s specialty, and
teacher may explain their function in the text, or if abbreviations are concerned, to
demonstrate their transfer from the written form into the spoken version and vice versa.
- Sub-technical vocabulary – “words that have one or more “general” English meanings
and which in technical contexts take on extended meanings (technical, or specialized in
some fashion)” (Trimble, 1985, p.129) or as the Kennedy and Bolitho’s definition states
“words which are not specific to a subject specialty but which occur regularly in scientific
and technical texts – e.g. reflection, intense, accumulate, tendency, isolate and dense”
(1984, p.57-58). According to Inman (1978), sub-technical vocabulary seems to be
involved in almost 80 per cent of scientific texts that is a quite high occurrence (qut. in
Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984, p.58). Furthermore, as Trimble (1985, p.129) emphasizes, the
sub-technical lexis have their meanings in “general” English and take on specialized
meanings within a technical context, which often represent a problem for both the learner
and the teacher. Consequently, it is the sub-technical lexis that teacher should give high
priority when teaching ESP vocabulary.
- Highly technical vocabulary – these terms are very specific and so may be less
comprehensible. Every subject has its set of highly technical vocabulary and the gap

between the generally known terms and those known just by real specialists is quite wide
in some fields. Kennedy and Bolitho suggest that these terms “should arise, in context, in
the specialist classes and are not normally the teacher’s responsibility” (1984, p.57).









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CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

2.1. The current situation of the teaching and learning ESP at VTVC

Vungtau Tourism Vocational College (VTVC) was set up in 2008, based on Vungtau
Vocational Secondary Tourism School founded in 1975. At the college, English is a
compulsory subject in the curriculum of teaching and learning of all departments, but it is
not considered the main subject. It only serves as a means that help students to read their
specialized materials in English. There are several ESP courses such as English for Hotel
Management, English for Restaurant Management, English for Housekeeping, English for
Reception, English for Tour-Guide, and English for Cookery.
This is a college which has been trained and provided quite a large amount of workforce to
the local Tourism Industry. With the intention of working in the Hospitality industry,
students need to be informed that they will come across many types of travellers, some will
be business guests, others will be tourists and visitors. Many of them will speak a different
language other than their own and English, especially English in Tourism, will be the
bridge for people in different countries to understand each other. Aware of the fact that
ESP is important for students who intend to work in the Hospitality industry, the ESP
courses for students at different Departments at the college were conducted. One of the
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main objectives of the ESP courses is helping students obtain as many ESP vocabulary as
possible because “Without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary
nothing can be conveyed.” (Wilkins 1972, p.111, cited in David Michael Singleton (1999,
p.9)
2.1.1. English for Cookery Staff

This study investigated the students who were being trained to work in Hotel and
Restaurant in the future where they need to use English to deal with foreign guests. The
learning program was designed by the teachers of English in the Restaurant Management
Department three years ago. The organizers of the course aimed at providing students a
certain number of vocabulary on Food and Beverage so that they can read as well as create
recipes and explain the dishes if necessary. In the course, vocabulary items are accessed

through reading and listening sections.
Since vocabulary learning is believed to have “a synergistic association with reading”
(Coady, J. and Huckin,T. 1997, p.2), the activities in this study were created based on the
reading comprehension texts.

2.1.2. The learners

The students at VTVC are aged from 18 to 21 and come from all parts of the country. Most
of the students have learnt English at high school, but many of them have learnt English
quite little and some others have never learnt a foreign language. This mixed ability has
caused certain problems in teaching and learning English at the college. Moreover, the
students are quite passive in learning. Their learning style is characterized as rote learning
of vocabulary and rules. They tend to prefer written work which may be resulted from their
learning habits at school. They also have a tendency of depending on the textbooks and the
teachers for knowledge and do not have the habit of self-study.

2.1.3. The syllabus and materials

The overall curriculum of the College for vocational students lasts for 2 years in which the
time allocation for English constitutes a part of 500 class periods. The English course is
divided into stages. The first stage is for General English which accounts for 375 class
17


periods. Students are taught General English during the first, second and third terms in the
academic year to achieve basic knowledge of English. The textbook chosen is New Cutting
Edge – Elementary by Cunningham,S, and Moor, P. (2005). At this stage, the major aims
are to develop students’ basic communicative skills. The General English stage also serves
as the stepping stone for students to proceed to the ESP course. At the end of each term,
students have to take a written exam which mainly focus on grammar and vocabulary.

The second stage is only 125 class periods for ESP. Each class meets two 5-period times a
week for the English subject. So the students have to spend three months finishing their
ESP including revision parts and tests. As mentioned in Part A, this study is limited to the
ESP for Cookery Students. The English teaching materials used for them is the book
“Ready to Order” by Baude A., Iglesias, M., Inesta, A. (2002). The ESP course aims at
providing students with a great deal of food and beverage items and developing students’
communicative skills. The texts and the exercises were designed in the form of content-
based syllabus rather than a task - based one. The content of each unit is separated into
different skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Vocabulary. However, the fact
that the Vocabulary sections are put after Listening and Reading ones causes the students’
inability to understand the listening tasks or reading passages which contain quite a lot of
new words. The exercises in each unit often focus on vocabulary.

2.1.4. The teachers and their methods of ESP Vocabulary Teaching

At present, the Management Department consists of ten subject teachers and seven
language teachers. All of the language teachers (English language teachers) graduated from
universities of foreign languages and two of them have Master degree in Vietnam. None of
them has been trained in the English speaking countries. The teachers are not too young
(aged from 30 to 39) and have quite much experience in ESP teaching. The number of
teachers is restricted while there are five departments at the college (Hotel Management
Department, Restaurant Management Department, Tourism Department, Foreign
Languages Department and Basic Knowledge Department) all of which have English as a
compulsory subject. Hence, all of the teachers have the responsibility to teach both GE and
ESP. Therefore, they encounter many difficulties in their teaching process such as the lack
of the speciality knowledge, the choice of methodologies and supplementary teaching
materials.
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With the course book design as described above, the teachers at VTVC tend to apply the
Implicit Teaching method in dealing with Listening and Reading sections . In ESP lessons,
the main activities are asking and answering questions in context. There are no clear
language activities for vocabulary learning.




2.2. Research methodology – Quasi-Experimental Design

2.2.1. Research questions

For the purpose of the study which had been stated in chapter I, the research question
which needed to be answered was:
To what extent does the Explicit Vocabulary Teaching help to improve ESP
students’ vocabulary acquisition?

The research question was answered by answering these two sub-research questions:
1. Will there be any significant difference in the vocabulary knowledge between the
students who are taught vocabulary explicitly and those taught vocabulary
implicitly?

2. Will there be any significant difference in the vocabulary knowledge before and
after the treatment between the Explicit Vocabulary Teaching and Implicit
Vocabulary Teaching?

2.2.2 The participants

Participants were in two intact classes at VTVC. Participants who were second-year
students majoring in Cookery took ten-period ESP English course per week for one

semester so as to enhance their listening and speaking abilities of English in Hospitality.
Two intact classes were assigned as the experimental and the control groups Each class
consisted of 21 students aged from 18 to 21. All the participants have learned English for
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at least three years. After having been successful in the entrance exam they are assigned
into different classes randomly. The participants had finished the English program for first-
year students in VTVC aiming at training them using fluently four language skills:
Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing before they start their ESP semester at the
second-year. At the time the research was conducted, all the participants were at the pre-
intermediate level of English, however, their self-study ability is quite limited. The reason
why they spend most of the time on their vocational subjects but not English is that they
think English just takes the second importance in their course. Both classes were taught by
the same instructor using the same teaching material with the same teaching schedule.

In order to check that both experimental and control groups’ English proficiency for
Hospitality-related areas was at the same level prior to different instructional treatments,
the pretest consisting of 40 questions was administered and an independent samples t-test
was used to compare participants’ scores of vocabulary section.

Material

All the participants used the same course book entitled Ready to Order by Anne Baude,
Montserrat Iglesias and Anna Inesta (2004). They were instructed by the researcher’s
colleague at the Restaurant Management Department. The course book focuses on different
topics related to English in Hotel and Restaurant, including topics for Describing a
restaurant, Dealing with enquiries, Taking reservations, Receiving guests, Describing
drinks, Planning menus, Recommending dishes, and other Hotel and Restaurant
correspondence. However, there are some simple units for the second-year students who

have finished the GE course included in the material, teachers in the Restaurant
Management Department have a right to work in the control of the English leader to omit
unsuitable units and design a suitable syllabus to meet the students’ level. Students in this
research are Cookery ones who are training to become chefs are taught with the syllabus
that the teachers for Cookery designed. The activities in the study were designed basing on
the reading parts in the Function part from six first units in the material. (See Appendix 1)

Two English teachers (the researcher and her colleague) having equal qualification, equal
teaching experiences, and considerably equal teaching potential, were selected to teach the
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control and experimental groups. Before the experiment, both teachers sat together talking
about the present problem that all teachers for Cookery in the Department met, sharing
opinions in improving vocabulary teaching method. At the end, they reached a decision to
apply new method that is explicit method to teaching ESP vocabulary. The researcher
instructed the experimental group while her colleague instructed the control one.

2.2.3. Research design

In this paper, the quantitative approach was followed strictly in order to gather the data for
the questions raised in Part A. Among various quantitative designs, quasi-experimental
research was chosen and carefully constructed in this paper so that the variables under
investigation could be controlled and manipulated. This type of research, by nature, is
concerned with studying the effects of specified and controlled treatments given to subjects
usually formed into groups, in which the treatments refers to anything done to groups in
order to measure its effect, and the measurement refers to how the effects of the treatment
will be evaluated by means of a language test (Seliger, 1989, p.135).

There are two groups in the quasi-experimental design: an experimental group and a

control group (Vaus, 2007, p.32). The data are collected at two points in time (before and
after). Before Time 2 (after), the experimental group is exposed to an experimental
intervention while the control group is left alone. At both Time 1 and Time 2, the
experimental and control groups are measured in relation to the key dependent variable
that is of interest in the study. In Table 2.2.3, the measure of the dependent variable is
indicated by E1 and E2, and C1 and C2 (ibid.,p.33).

Since the experimental group has been exposed to the experimental intervention, it might
be due to the influence of the intervention. To test for an intervention effect, the difference
is measured between E1 and E2 and the change is calculated between Time 1 and Time 2
(Echange) for the experimental group.

Method of
allocation to groups
Time 1
(T1)
Before
Intervention
(X)
Time 2
(T2)
After

21


Experimental group
E1
Intervention
E2

Echange = E2 – E1
Control group
C1
No intervention
C2
Cchange = C2 – C1
Table 2.2.3: Structure of experimental design (Vaus, 2007, p.32)

However, the observed change for the experimental group between Time 1 and Time 2
might be due to factors other than the experimental intervention (ibid., p. 34). A change
could occur due to the passing of time, be a result of being measured at Time 1, or be
caused by a whole set of other possibilities. For this reason, a control group is needed.
Ideally, this group should be identical to the experimental group at Time 1. However,
unlike the experimental group, it is not exposed to any experimental intervention. It can be
measured on the dependent variable at both Time 1and Time 2 and obtain a measure of
change over the time (Cchange). Because this group is not exposed to the experimental
intervention, any change in this group is not due to this factor.

The crucial thing to look at is whether the experimental group changed more than the
control group. If the experimental group changed significantly more, it could be concluded
that this is because of the experimental intervention (ibid., p. 34). This conclusion is, of
course, warranted only if both groups are the same to start with and had identical
experiences between Time 1 and Time 2.

Specifically, this research was designed to test whether an intervention (the application of
Explicit Vocabulary Teaching) which helped ESP students at VTVC improve their
vocabulary acquisition would be effective. The design followed the format of a Quasi-
experimental design including two groups – an experimental group (Class 2) which
received the special treatment and a control group (Class 1) which did not. It revealed four
basic characteristics: (1) a control group was present; (2) the subjects were chosen

purposefully from intact groups;(3) re-test was administered to capture the initial
differences between the groups; and (4) a post-test was given at the end of the treatment
period to check for improvement from the experimental group. It can be described in
Diagram 2.2.3 below: